Before you get out your gloves and trowel, visit the web's wealth of gardening sites to find expert advice and plenty of inspiration. Specialist sites invite you to track down a rare plant or organise a visit to a public gardenYes, it's trying to be spring out there once again. Time to get out in the garden, pull up the weeds, sort out the tubs and sow a variety of annuals for a glorious, colourful display throughout the summer.

Just as a well-written travel article can have you grabbing your suitcase from the top of the wardrobe and planning a trip, many gardening sites are similarly inspirational. They provide the knowledge, advice and, often, the plants and the tools you need to turn that muddy wilderness outside your back door into a blooming delight.

A good starting point are general-interest sites such as Greenfingers, a weekly magazine of well-illustrated, readable articles by top gardening writers. A mine of practical advice awaits on the BBC's gardening site, as well as plenty of celebrity input from the growing number of UK radio and television gardeners. The Royal Horticultural Society boasts a huge range of accessible services, databases on nurseries and events plus an online version of its "plant finder". Many sites click through to garden furniture and tools suppliers and it is also worth exploring other links if you'd like to delve into more specialised areas.Gardeners are a friendly, quietly passionate bunch - happy to share experiences and talk about every niche area you can imagine, and many you can't. Gardening chat rooms are lively, informative and easy to join. Expert Gardener, for instance, has several discussion groups on the go at any one time while others such as Garden UK offer an e-mail correspondence system rather than bulletin boards. Of course, the web also has many specialist sites and is ideal for tracking down hard-to-find plants or shrubs. Only on the internet could the avid gardener land that rare Siberian variety not listed in any gardening book or shrub catalogue.

Some sites have such rare plants, they are auctioned to the highest bidder, as on Monksilver, while others such as Rareplants lovingly describe many types the average gardener has never heard of. Even in the coldest, darkest days of winter these sites can help you plan ahead, and they are constantly updated with seasonal tips. Lesser known are the gardens-to-visit sites, many of which are lavishly illustrated. Lose yourself in the vast shrubberies of stately homes on the Museum of Garden History site, admire the manicured lawns open to the public throughout Europe and the US with the Garden Visit and Travel Guide, or plan your outings with the excellent national gardens scheme database (NGS).

One last, essential ingredient for the perfect garden - good, honest manure. For the serious gardener, what better than a pile of elephant dung complete with natural nutrients? Zoodoo provides a wide selection of animal droppings via the web - but, a word of caution, the sealed packs should be opened at arm's length and downwind.

Email Annie Counsell at anniecounsell@ft.com